The Best of July

July was a good reading month: #24in48 was a great jumpstart to my review deadlines this month and everything's been pretty damn great since. A few of my favorites:

Week in Reading: June 29th

JESUS H. ROOSEVELT CHRIST, it's almost July. (And I've clearly been catching up on more of the Outlander series on audio by my choice of exclamations.)

While I was away earlier this month, I devoured book after book: Stardust, by Neil Gaiman; When the Marquess Met His Match, by Laura Lee Guhrke; The Shore by Sara Taylor; and Saint Mazie by Jami Attenberg. Not to mention, of course, Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret for the summer of #BlumeALong.

After a week off of reading (work and household projects consumed almost all of my spare brainspace and energy last week), I'm back with a vengeance.

This week, I'm listening to Drums of Autumn (the fourth of the Outlander series, which is finally moving out of the oh-my-another-bear-attack wilderness of North Carolina and into some more *unexpected* developments). I'm also savoring the last hundred or so pages of The Fatal Flame, the third--and final--of Lyndsay Faye's incredible Timothy Wilde trilogy (seriously, if you like smart, well-researched historical fiction and enjoy 19th-century New York City history, how have you not read these books already??). AND I'm diving into Summer Sisters for the second leg of the #BlumeALong (won't you join us?).

#BlumeALong Linkup: Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

Gah! Sorry to be a terrible host and forget to get this up earlier today... this week has been HECTIC. I'll update here tonight or tomorrow with my own thoughts about Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret, but in the meantime, if you care to link up, let us know:

What did you think of the book? If you're new to Blume, was this a good first experience? If you're a long-time reader of Blume, what was it like to revisit the book?

Link up to your post (or, if you've been actively sharing your thoughts on social media, the social media channel of your preference) below. Or feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

Week in Reading: June 15 (the start of #BlumeALong!)

I've got some work travel planned for this week, which means my posts here will be rather sparse. Instead, I plan to use my train time in the best possible way: with a book in my lap. I'll finally be reading Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which I've heard good things about, and I'm finally starting The Shore on my Nook because Shannon said it was excellent. After polling Twitter for recommendations of smart, feminist romance novels, I'm also bringing along When the Marquess Met His Match, the first of the American Heiress in London series by Laura Gee Guhrke (recommended by Jenny from Reading the End).